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Scutaro should be OK; Schoeneweis released

Scutaro should be OK; Schoeneweis released

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BOSTON -- Manager Terry Francona said shortstop Marco Scutaro was responding well to the cortisone shot he received on Wednesday in his left elbow.

"I think he's doing OK," Francona said. "He was a little tender [Wednesday] night, which I think happens. I think it's kind of the way it's supposed to work. That's part of the reason we got Angel [Sanchez] here. If we're going to do that, we want it to work. I would hope, and I think [Scutaro's] under the assumption he'll be ready to go tomorrow, he'll be feeling good about being ready to go. That's the idea. If he's not, we'll give it another day. But I don't think that'll happen."

Francona did not expect Scutaro's ailing elbow to be a chronic concern.

"I think that's why we did this," Francona said. "We're not
concerned that it'll be a prolonged thing, but we kind of want to nip it in the bud. We think he's going to be fine."

Sanchez was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket and started at shortstop for Thursday's game against the Twins at Fenway. In 36 games for the PawSox, he was hitting
.313 (41-for-131), playing 23 games at short, four at second base and one at third.

"He's a guy that can move around the infield," Francona said. "He's one of those guys that accumulates a ton of at-bats in Spring Training because of his versatility. He had a good year in [Las] Vegas, [Toronto's Triple-A affiliate], last year. He was playing very well in Triple-A, and he's playing tonight."

Sanchez -- who has played eight games in the big leagues with Kansas City in 2006, batting .222 with an RBI -- found out about the promotion after Pawtucket's game Wednesday. It caught him by surprise, but he was excited to make his Red Sox debut.

"Just really happy," Sanchez said. "I don't know what. There's no explanation to explain how happy I was when they told me.

"I don't think [I'll be nervous]. I just go out there and have fun and play hard. It will be all right, hopefully."

Because space had to be cleared on the roster for Sanchez, left-handed pitcher Scott Schoeneweis was released. Thursday is the first anniversary of his wife's death from an accidental overdose.

"Yes," Francona replied, when asked if he was aware of the anniversary. "What do you want me to do? I wrote him a note. As much as we try to be aware of personal things, I don't know how you make a baseball decision. You can't ask Scutaro to have a shot two days later. That's not going to work."